When tomatoes are harvested and sorted, they are normally packaged in standard 25 pound bulk pack boxes. Each such box normally holds between 72 and 84 tomatoes, without using dividers. Growers ship the produce to a professional tomato repacker who checks the tomatoes for quality, sorting them by size and color. The tomatoes are then repacked into standard 25 pound bulk boxes and shipped to grocery stores, restaurants, and other retailers and users.
Packing tomatoes in the standard 25 pound bulk box, which ordinarily has a dimension in the range of 8 inches depth by 12 inches width by 18.5 inches length, permits individual tomatoes during ripening, packing, or transit to be damaged relatively easily. The standard 25 pound bulk box allows pressure to develop on individual tomatoes and encourages spoilage and concussion bruising. Also, cross-contamination may occur. One rotten tomato can ruin its neighboring tomatoes, particularly the tomatoes below the rotten tomato. When the bulk shipment is received at its final destination, such as a restaurant, the tomatoes can be sorted, and waste or spoiled tomatoes can be discarded. If the rotten tomatoes are not promptly sorted at the delivery destination or restaurant from the good tomatoes, further tomato spoilage and bruising occurs during the storage period before use.
Although this known standard 25-pound bulk pack box as described above has attained widespread use for shipping tomatoes from the field to the store or restaurant, its use has a number of disadvantages. The harvested tomatoes are typically sorted several times by color, size and condition (e.g., to remove spoiled tomatoes) prior to the time of intended use or prior to delivery of a final destination, such as a restaurant, for example. A new box and handling method is so that the effects of spoilage during shipping and storage, and the need for repacking and sorting between harvesting and use are minimized or eliminated.
When tomatoes are harvested, sorted and packed in standard 25 pound bulk pack boxes, the tomatoes are typically not in a ripened state for several reasons. First, there is less of a likelihood of damage occurring during harvesting when the tomatoes are firm and not ripe. The tomatoes are harvested before ripeness since unripe tomatoes are better able to withstand the rigors of harvesting, packing and shipment. Second, there is typically a period of time between harvesting and consumption of the tomatoes. If tomatoes are ripe when harvested, there is a greater likelihood of spoilage before reaching the consumer since the tomatoes will continue to naturally ripen further after harvesting.
Since the tomatoes are typically not ripe when harvested, it is frequently desirable to artificially ripen the tomatoes at least to some degree and at some point between harvesting but before being shipped to the store or restaurant. Typically, a tomato that is harvested ripe is termed "vine ripe" and a tomato harvested green to be artificially ripened is termed "gas green." One method known to the art of artificially ripening tomatoes is by placing the tomatoes into a substantially sealed room or container and introducing ethylene gas into the room in a predetermined concentration, humidity and temperature. The ethylene may be introduced into the room either alone or as part of a gaseous mixture. The ethylene is introduced in a concentration sufficient to effectuate the desired degree of ripening of the tomatoes. Generally, the degree of ripening achieved can be controlled by controlling the concentration of ethylene introduced and the amount of time that the tomatoes are exposed to the ethylene. The tomato grower is typically the entity that undertakes this ripening process, although a repacker may also undertake this process.
All kinds of vegetables and fruits are typically susceptible to this method of artificial ripening, especially vegetables and fruits which themselves give off ethylene during their natural ripening. The ethylene added to the room serves to reduce the time of ripening required as compared to natural ripening.
Typically, the 25 pound bulk pack boxes containing the tomatoes are placed after harvesting directly into the gas-sealed enclosure, such as a tractor trailer or a room, illustratively, and the same boxes are removed from the gas-sealed room after the desired degree of artificial ripening has been achieved. Although the amount of time that the tomatoes are left in the room depends on the ripeness (maturity) of the tomatoes placed in the room and the degree of ripening desired, the time that the tomatoes spent in the sealed room is typically between seven to nine days.
Further, the tomatoes must typically be sorted after removal from the room since tomatoes enter the room at different stages of ripeness and maturity. Specifically, as these tomatoes ripen in the 25 pound boxes, the tomatoes ripen at different rates depending on their entering ripeness and location in the box. As a result, the tomatoes exit the ripening room at different stages of ripeness. The tomatoes must then be sorted again to segregate tomatoes of the same degree of ripeness. Color sorting of tomatoes is typically used to sort these tomatoes.
This known method of artificial ripening as described above is time and very labor intensive. A new system and method of artificial ripening using ethylene is needed so that the tomatoes spend less time in the sealed room and to reduce sorting than under known methods. Reducing the artificial ripening time reduces processing time and cost. Further, a system and method of artificial ripening is desired in which the tomatoes enter the room at different degrees of ripeness but exit the room at substantially the same ripeness, or at least within a closer range of degrees of ripeness. Processing time and cost is thereby reduced since less or no sorting is needed after the artificial ripening. A method and system whereby the natural ripening process is enhanced and controlled is most desirable so that the need for an artificial ripening process involving a sealed room and the introduction of ethylene gas is reduced in time.
In summary, a need therefore exists to handle and package tomatoes in a manner that is less likely to cause damage in transit and so that spoilage of on tomato, either during transit or thereafter, is less apt to spoil other tomatoes also in the box.
A need also exists to provide a method and controlled system using ethylene for artificially ripening tomatoes which requires a reduced exposure time of the tomatoes to the ethylene.
A need also exists to provide a method and system which enhances and expedites the natural ripening of the tomatoes.
A need also exists to provide a method and system in which there is more uniform ripening of the tomatoes, whereby there is less of a need to sort the tomatoes after the artificial ripening process.
In accordance with the present invention, it has been discovered that the limitations of the standard 25 pound tomato box are surpassed by a new type of tomato carton and method of packing and ripening tomatoes.